Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has warned his health is deteriorating in prison and is near death

Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned this Sunday that he was “close to death” after being poisoned and having gone from weighing 120 to weighing 56 kilograms. Georgian authorities deny he was poisoned and attribute his deterioration to poor diet.

Saakashvili is admitted to a hospital where he was transferred from prison where he is serving a sentence for abuse of power due to his deteriorating state of health.

Saakashvili himself told in indirect contact with the British channel Sky News through his lawyer that “I weighed 120 kilograms and now I weigh 64”. “If I go below 60, the doctors think there will be multi-organ failure,” he explained in a handwritten response to questions from the British channel.

“I’m in bed all the time. My bones are falling apart and I’m in excruciating pain.“, he added in a message sent by his lawyer, Shalva Khachapuridze.

Jachapuridze said Saakashvili’s condition was deteriorating day by day. “It’s a scary sight. He looks like a prisoner from a concentration camp in Nazi Germany.”said the lawyer News from heaven.

The former president took the opportunity to address the tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets of Georgia to protest against a law deemed pro-Russian. “Be very careful. Be ready to mobilize quickly, on short notice, because the regime of the oligarchs is vengeful,” he warned.

Mijail Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president from 2004 to 2013, is serving a six-year sentence for two abuse of power cases related to the beating of Valery Gelashvilian opposition politician, by special police forces in 2005.

Saakashvili was tried and convicted in absentia in 2018. Convictions in absentia violate international fair trial standards. He was arrested upon his return to Georgia on October 1, 2021, and faces new charges of abuse of power. His supporters say the charges are politically motivated.

Human Rights Watch (HRW)y Amnesty International They called for Saakashvili’s release on humanitarian and health grounds. Him too European Parliament He asked for his release so that he could be treated abroad.

weeks ago, about a thousand supporters of Saakashvili demonstrated outside the government headquartersin the center of Tbilisi, to demand his transfer to a clinic abroad.

The demonstrators carried flags of Georgia, the European Union and Ukraine, as well as banners with photos of the former president, who is currently undergoing medical treatment in detention at one of the main clinics in the city. Georgian capital.

“The protests will continue until we secure the transfer of the former president overseas on humanitarian grounds,” he told the rally. Alexandre Koupravamember of the United National Movement opposition party, created by Saakashvili.

Georgy Baramidzemember of the same opposition party, noted that “the Georgian authorities are criminals who cynically assassinate Saakashvili”.

Georgian Minister of Justice Say Quitfor his part, told the television channel hoped that the authorities “are doing everything possible to take care of the health of Saakashvili, who is in a hospital under permanent medical observation”.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky joined in international condemnation of Saakashvili’s plight, warning that “he is slowly being assassinated”. “At this time, the Ukrainian citizen and former President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili is slowly being murdered. The very fact that we still have to fight against such an attempted de facto public execution of a person in Europe in the 21st century is a disgrace! “, he wrote on his Twitter account.

He added: “Given the threat to his life, I urge the Georgian authorities to Remember your obligations under European standards for the protection of human rights, stop the abuses and release Mikhail. Ukraine has offered solutions. I urge the world to help save Mikhail’s life and prevent his execution.”

(With information from Europa Press and EFE)

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